LETTERS

The Death of Gary Adams

I read your article “The Unnecessary Death of Gary Adams” in the May issue.

I, too, believe the public has a right to know what’s going on. But did you stop to think, or do you even care, how it would affect the innocent people involved in this case? The article was pretty damn informative, and that’s fine. It caught the public’s eye. On the other hand, printing something so personal and painful to certain individuals is cruel and inconsiderate. You mentioned at least two persons’ names without contacting them at all. If they were important enough to mention in an explosive article like this, it seems you would have notified or questioned them. As it was, they were not notified and had no indication that their personal lives would be made public.

If that’s the law, well, like many other laws, it needs changing.

Samantha Castillo Dallas



Here is a postscript to the Gary Adams story:

KLIF News first learned of the incident at the Terrell State Hospital when the body arrived at the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s office. 1 immediately attempted to contact Dr. Luis Cowley, the hospital director, by telephone. For nearly eighteen hours, Dr. Cowley was unavailable. We were told numerous times to call back “in an hour” or that he was “at his office” or “at his home.” We called every hour at both places.

I drove out to the hospital early Sunday afternoon to attempt to see the doctor. Once there, I was shadowed, then threatened with arrest. The same person that threatened to have me jailed also admitted that “it was a hell of a mess.”

MHMR people frequently referred to a state law that prohibits them from talking about patients. Assuming such a law exists (it was never cited in such a manner that I could look it up), there is a question as to when the patient’s right to privacy is superseded by the public’s right to know. Especially when one ward of the state kills another on state property.

This entire incident, and state-supported mental health care in general, only demonstrates further that those who can’t afford to pay for private care get little help from government. And those same people rarely have the means to make their voices heard.

David Coursey

KL1F News

Dallas

Jim Atkinson replies: As Mr. Coursey’s experiences show, neither the hospital nor the State was willing to explain how a 13-year-old boy had been murdered while in the custody of the State of Texas. Therefore, it was entirely appropriate for the press to try to provide an explanation. That involved the investigation, confirmation, and reporting of what many people, like Ms. Castillo, consider painful personal facts. But without those facts – without an understanding of how each boy grew up and of how things went wrong for him – the murder would be merely one more entry on a police record. The story was put together with the full cooperation of the judges, numerous members of the psychiatric community, and, of course, the boys’ families and their attorneys. They wanted a full explanation of the matter, as 1 did.

Since an explanation was not forthcoming from the authorities, telling the story in a magazine seemed the only alternative.



Good Sports

Your piece about Channel 5 (“Sex at 6 and 10”) in the May issue implies that I am leaving the station under the same circumstances as some other staff members who are unhappy.

Both Blake Byrne and Bill Vance asked me to stay and to add the 10 o’clock sports report to my responsibilities. Bill felt it would be easier to coordinate his promotional efforts behind one man. Because of other commitments, both personal and professional, I was unable to accept their kind offer.

I would like it known that I have nothing but the highest regard for these two gentlemen. I wish them nothing but the best.

Frank Glieber Dallas



Akin vs. Dahl

I wish I were eloquent enough to express my displeasure at your gross invasion of privacy in the April issue article “Akin vs. Dahl.” I’m sure your excuse would be “Oh, but it’s a matter of public record, since the case was taken to court.” Mr. Dahl and the Akins are not public figures whose private concerns deserve to be scrutinized in your magazine.

What you have done is to capitalize on the miseries of some decent people in hopes of selling a few more copies of your shoddy magazine.

Mayme Evans

Dallas



We have been subscribing to about nine publications for many years, including D Magazine.

Congratulations are in order for your recent “Akin vs. Dahl,” which is the finest article I’ve read in the last forty years.

Howard A. SchragDallas



Wrong Number

We wish to set the facts straight regarding your assessment of Forester Telephone Answering Service (“Best and Worst,” January).

Had you bothered to inquire, you would have found that Forester installed its computerized answering equipment in April, 1978, several months prior to that of American Personalized.

Further, Forester is not one of Dallas’ first answering services. Established in the autumn of 1923, we were the first answering service in Dallas. Forester is, in fact, one of the five oldest telephone answering services in America.

The balance of the article is a matter of opinion and you are entitled to yours, whether valid or not. It is a fact, however, that we are the largest independently owned answering service in Dallas, in Texas, in the United States, and, so far as we know, in the civilized world. We must be doing something right.

Pearl Forester

Forester Telephone Answering Service

Dallas



Well-Schooled

It’s not often that one reads something dumb on “Publisher’s Page,” but it happened in April.

Why can’t a person interested in a journalism career receive both education and training as a student? The answer, of course, is that he or she can. Journalism curricula at schools such as the University of Texas and North Texas State University are designed to give students a liberal education, requiring courses in many other disciplines. Those schools limit the number of hours in journalism which a student may take for credit.

When you say, “We can do the training ourselves,” I wonder if you mean practicing, professional journalists can train educated students in the craft itself. Because if you do, that’s exactly what happens in journalism schools.

With all due respect, that’s the way most employers in the journalism business, I believe, prefer it.

Benton Rain Patterson Denton

I was cheered by your recent account on “Publisher’s Page” of the McDermott colloquium at the University of Dallas. I was impressed by your arguing that good journalism depends upon the scope and depth of mind of the writer and oy your demonstrating that a good journalist can find newsworthy a weekend in Dallas devoted to ideas, propounded both by extraordinary visitors and by more ordinary Dallasites. Persons like myself, concerned with nurturing liberal education in Dallas, are greatly encouraged by events like the McDermott colloquium and by the per-ceptiveness of D Magazine in sensing their importance to the community.

James Early

Dean, School of Humanities and

Sciences

Southern Methodist University



The Eye of the Beholder



The splash and beauty of the bodies in bathing suits (“Bright and Beautiful,” May), captured by vibrant photography, are desecrated by the headless, mindless torsos. What an excellent example of blatant, dehumanizing sexism you have offered us! As a magazine of human interest, please advocate exhilarating, beautiful, healthy, sexuality between people – not objects as vacuous as mannequins. Help Dallas grow up – not regress!

Polly Stephenson Gilbert

Dallas



Credit Where It’s Due

In the May issue, we gave a “Thumbs Up” to the Dallas News city desk for investigations of the Dallas Housing Department and “funding improprieties at NTSU.” The latter story was covered by the News’ state desk, not the city desk.

The photograph of Phillip Reeves on page 29 of the May issue should have been credited to Linda Blase.